Site-resolved imaging of Mott Insulators in a novel triangular optical lattice geometry

The triangular lattice Hubbard model is a paradigmatic model of a strongly correlated geometrically frustrated quantum system which exhibits a rich phase diagram, including a predicted spin liquid phase. This problem is numerically difficult due to the frustration and large ground state degeneracy. Quantum gas microscopes are at the forefront of quantum simulation, providing a direct detection of experimental realization of the Hubbard model on a single-site level. Here, we report on an implementation of a site-resolved fermionic Mott Insulator in a novel triangular optical lattice. Using a recycled circularly polarized laser beam, we form a stable triangular lattice which has a factor of 1.5 larger trap frequency than our previous record [1]. In our system, the ratio of the interaction to tunneling can be tuned via a Feshbach resonance and the lattice depth. The symmetry of the tunneling along the three lattice axes are examined by evaluating density-density correlations. We compare finite-temperature correlations in the triangular Fermi-Hubbard model with calculations from a numerical linked cluster expansion we implemented in our group.

[1] J. Yang et al, PRX Quantum 2, 020344 (2021).